News Quiz, The

HEADLINE-GUFFAWING weekly satire-lite hoedown. That HIGNFY-inspiring format in full: competing panel of ‘witty intellectuals’ of a journalistic (Bill Deedes, Ian Hislop, Francis Wheen) or comedic (Jeremy Hardy, Armando Iannucci, Andy Hamilton) bent are challenged to spot newsworthy happenings of the past seven days courtesy of a series of very awful puns indeed, with ‘points’ taking second billing to gags and rounds interspersed by sub-That’s Life! ‘humorous’ cuttings sent in by listeners, and all of it framed by Leroy Anderson’s The Typewriter (ie that thing that goes “diddleiddleiddleiddleiddleiddleiddlei diddleiddleiddleiddleiddleiddlei TING!”). Hosts have included Barry Norman, Barry Took, Simon Hoggart and Sandi Toksvig, while for years the show also acted as an unofficial “there’s only one way to find out – FIIIIGHT!” running battle of the satire rags between Punch and Private Eye courtesy of competing regulars Alan Coren and Richard Ingrams.